Shelter cat with 'T-Rex arms' just wants love — then he meets someone who understands
Recently, a cat named Chance arrived at the MSPCA-Angell adoption center in Salem, Massachusetts. The first thing the shelter staff noticed about him was how adorable and sweet he was.
As the staff examined Chance, they also noticed there was something a little different about him. His front limbs were bent at a 90-degree angle, almost like little T-rex arms.
“Everyone at the shelter thought Chance was so cute — once he stood up and we noticed his legs, we immediately loved him even more,” Celia Jepsky, project coordinator for MSPCA-Angell at Northeast Animal Shelter, told The Dodo.
The shelter staff members were able to quickly determine that Chance was born with his bent arms. Luckily, his condition isn’t painful at all.
“Chance’s arms have been like this his whole life,” Jepsky said. “He knows no different.”
One might think that Chance’s limb difference would make it difficult to jump up on things and run around like other cats. But the shelter staff was surprised to find that Chance was incredibly agile.
“Although he might need a little bit of help getting up on furniture at times, he is otherwise able to get around just fine,” Jepsky said. “[H]e was actually able to climb up and down the tall cat trees we have.”
The staff members assumed that the affectionate, laid-back cat would get adopted quickly. But day after day, Chance received zero applications. In an effort to get him some attention from potential adopters, the shelter posted a video of him on their social media.
Sure enough, an animal lover named Katrina came across MSPCA-Angell’s post about Chance and instantly fell in love. Katrina has a particular soft spot for animals who are a little different, so she told her partner, Gregg, about Chance, and they decided to adopt him right away.
Gregg and Katrina have been amazed by how Chance immediately felt like he’d always been part of their family. The couple have two dogs, named Junebug and Broccoli, two rats, named Mr. Frodo and Gandalf, and another cat named Walter. Chance has been enjoying slowly getting to know everyone.
“Chance has been acclimating well at home,” Gregg and Katrina told The Dodo.
The couple has been loving getting to know Chance and showering him with affection — they’ve learned that he especially loves ear and butt scratches. Now that Chance has finally found a loving forever home, he’ll be getting as many scratches as his heart desires for the rest of his life.
